El Tiempo: Maduro closes democratic spaces and worsens repression in Venezuela

In a week, the government of Nicolás Maduro – once again and with unusual violence – kicked the fragile system of human rights protection in Venezuela with the arrest and expulsion from the United Office of activist and security and defense expert Rocio San Miguel. Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has been working in Caracas since 2019.

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This is between the international community and the protests over the disqualification of presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado and the lack of an election calendar for this year.

According to a recent study by the firm Polyanalytico, Machado has the support of 50 percent of likely voters while Maduro barely reaches 20 percent, a sign of Chavismo’s need for control as they know they are losing.

Human rights activists assure that these two actions will intensify the repressive pattern that will lead to an investigation in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity against Venezuela in vain, and that can be documented first-hand at least in Caracas. UN Office.

For lawyer Andrea Santa Cruz, the message sent with the San Miguel arrest is powerful, as the state cracks down on NGOs and activists.

This will be done not only by police action, but also by means of “statutory” measures which may be approved by Parliament at any time and called the ‘Inspection, Regulation, Prosecution and Financing Act’. Related Institutions’.

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